


A Day At The Spa

by Xzeihoranth



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-27 23:47:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16229822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xzeihoranth/pseuds/Xzeihoranth
Summary: The good kids get a vacation of sorts before Atlas.





	A Day At The Spa

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to write this for a while and wrote it in one night. It's not connected to my other story, it's pretty much canon as far as I can tell.

"You're sure that thing is safe?"

"Won't take my eyes off it."

"That's not entirely what I mean. I swear it's been talking to me in my sleep." Weiss says.

"That might've been me." When Weiss looks at her Yang shrugs. "Bad dreams. I'm kinda used to 'em by now."

No one seems to know what to say about that. Yang's hand trembles a little.

"You kids go off an' have fun at the spa. I'll be in the usual place."

"Drinking?" Ruby says almost reproachfully.

"No! The other usual place."

"Oh." She seems much happier to hear that. "That's a relief. Come on gang! Feel better soon Uncle Qrow!" Qrow gives her a tired thumbs-up.

"Blake, will your...friend be joining us?" Weiss asks as the newly-remade Team RWBY leaves Qrow's room.

"I don't know." Blake says. She and Yang are making conscious efforts not to look at one another. It's killing them already. "She's very gay." Blake adds by way of explanation.

Weiss frowns in confusion. Ruby and Yang don't seem to understand either.

Blake gives up trying to explain it. "We can ask her."

 

* * *

 

Ilia's cheeks turn pink. "O-oh. A-are you sure? I don't want to intrude."

"Come on, it'll be fun! Besides, we hardly know you!" Yang sounds more like her old self now. A little too much, perhaps; another conscious effort on her part.

"I-I heard you four only just got back together." Ilia mumbles.

"You can be her plus-one!" Yang says. "They do do plus-ones here, right?" she asks Blake.

Blake jumps. "What? I don't know."

Weiss sighs. "At my request, the council is footing the bill. We can take whoever we want within reason. That would seem to mean Team RWBY, Nora, Ren, _Jaune_ , Oscar, and- Uh, what's your name again?"

Blake jumps in, as Ilia seems to have swallowed her own tongue. "Her name's Ilia. She's an old friend of mine."

Weiss nods. She holds out a hand. "A pleasure to meet you Ilia. I am Weiss."

Ilia slowly holds out a hand of her own. The very moment Weiss takes it, Ilia's entire body (freckles included) turns pink. She swallows several times and manages to shake Weiss's hand timidly.

 

* * *

 

Ruby and Yang gasp in unison.

"What's wrong?" Weiss asks.

Blake doesn't say anything.

Ilia keeps her back to all of them. _Don't look don't look don't look don't look._

"That!" Ruby says hoarsely. "That is what is wrong!"

Weiss looks down at herself. "Oh." She feigns nonchalance. "Honestly Ruby, I hardly even feel it any more-"

Ruby is touching Weiss's latest scar gingerly. She can feel steam pouring out of her ears. "What are you doing?" she squeak-shrieks.

"I'm trying to make you feel better!"

Weiss wiggles away. "I feel fine!" she says loudly. Ruby's hands are still outstretched. Weiss forces herself to look away. "Honestly."

Yang in turn forces herself to look away from Blake's scar as well. It's on the other side from where Weiss's scar is on her body, and substantially more healed, but it still makes Yang's heart stop to see it.

She walks over to Ruby, who's slowly straightening up. "Same old snow queen." Yang says. Ruby looks up. She tries to smile. Yang puts her arm on Ruby's shoulder. "She probably just doesn't want to be touched right now." she says.

"Well, she came to the wrong place." Ruby says. "After the sauna come the massages."

There's a thud from behind them. Ilia's fallen off the bench.

 

* * *

 

Once they're all in the sauna, everything else is forgotten. The scars, the fear of being touched, even Ilia's gay panic dissolve in the steam.

Weiss slips under the water, perfectly content to float there until the end of time. She distantly hears something moving above her.

She feels Ruby's hands again, pressing something against her mouth. She can't make out what Ruby is saying.

She surfaces gracefully. Everyone turns to look.

She wipes the water from her face.

"What was that?" she asks.

Ruby offers it to her. It glows green faintly. "It's a mask." she says. "It's powered by Wind Dust. Lets you stay under as long as you want."

"Oh." For some reason Weiss is surprised. She'd assumed the Dust shortage- But that thought too dissolves in the steam. She accepts it from Ruby. "Thank you Ruby."

"Don't mention it." Ruby says. But she smiles.

Weiss tucks the straps behind her ears. She bends forward at the waist, putting her face in the water to test the mask out. Once she's satisfied that it works, she sits up again, sending her hair flipping back. She waves at no one in particular and sinks below the surface again.

Ruby lounges back against the side of the sauna. She can't bring herself to do anything else. It feels so good to just live right now. The weight of the world, if not entirely removed, is substantially lifted from her shoulders. Her silver eyes drift from Weiss; barely visible beneath the steam and the water but clearly having the time of her life as well; to Blake; probably the least relaxed of all of them for various reasons and who's openly staring at Yang; to Yang herself; whose shoulders are over the side and who reaches out her hand to Blake and who smiles that shy reluctant smile from the hall in Haven Academy when Blake takes it; to Ilia; whose hair had not taken the humidity as well as Weiss's had (in fact it was fanning out behind her to every conceivable angle) but who had far better things to worry about.

Nora waves at Ruby when Ruby looks over to her. Ren is deep in meditation beside her, or asleep like Oscar; Ruby can't tell for certain. She makes up her mind when she sees Jaune's hand on Ren's shoulder and an unmistakable shimmer over Ren's body. _Ren's using his Semblance to help us all relax. And Jaune's using his Semblance to refuel Ren._

"Thanks Ren." she whispers. He smiles.

Oscar has been quiet since the battle. Ozpin, for better or worse, has yet to be seen. Jaune had tried to refuel Oscar, but every time, he'd come away looking discouraged. "It's not that." he'd said. "It's not his Aura. He's just...tired."

Ruby can sympathize. She can feel her mind reaching for things and coming up short. Not just now either, it's been a lingering menace since that thing that doesn't bear thinking about.

One last pair of thoughts forces its way through the drowsy fog and the comfort of Ren's Semblance.

Does she really think she can save them?

_Do you really think you can save them?_

_I'm going to try,_ she thinks back at it.

She doesn't know if it has anything else to say before she falls asleep.  


* * *

 

Sooner than anyone would like, it's time to go. Ren's Semblance fades away and they all struggle to their feet.

Ilia immediately claps a hand to her face.

"What is it?" Yang asks.

She shakes her head.

"Ilia?" Weiss says.

Ilia tries to say something. "Y-" She tries again. "You- You're all so- So beautiful." She's crying now, in addition to her nosebleed from before.

The boys are already out of the room.

Everyone else exchanges glances.

"THAT'S what you were talking about!" Weiss says to Blake.

Blake says in response, "Wait, what did you think I was talking about?"

"I don't know. Happy? She came here with you and Sun and _he's_ always happy."

"Who even says it like that any more?"

Over Nora's cackles of delight and Weiss and Blake continuing to bicker, Ruby and Yang help Ilia back to the dressing room. "Some things never change." Ruby sighs.

 

* * *

 

"No. Absolutely not." Weiss says.

"Weiss...!"

"N-O. No."

"It wouldn't be fair if you were the only one left out!"

"I don't care about being fair. I'm a Schnee, remember?"

Ilia looks up. "You're a what?!"

It's Blake's turn to bury her face in her hands. "Oh, here we go."

"Weiss, I know you don't like being touched. I've felt like that before too, you know."

Weiss looks up at Yang. "Oh please. You??"

"Yeah." The certainty in Yang's voice makes Weiss reassess the situation. Yang hadn't exactly been forthcoming about what she'd been doing for the past few months before she came to Mistral, or what had taken her arm. Weiss knew she was guilty of much of the same (even the thought of the manor turns her stomach like it never did before), but Yang was so different from how she used to be. Whatever happened must have been horrible. _Horrible enough to cause her to not want to be touched? Maybe..._

"Fine." She uncrosses her arms. "But only if you all are in the room with me."

"We're not going anywhere." Ruby says. "Like Blake said. Right?"

Blake nods.

Before the girls can lie down on the tables, Ilia takes Blake over to a corner.

"She's a Schnee?!" she hisses.

"Yeah. I know how you must feel. I didn't like her either at first, and your parents-"

Ilia's skin has turned red, and her spots yellow. "But- But she- But she-"

"You don't think she's beautiful any more?" Blake says. It's the only thing she can think of to prompt Ilia to explain.

"I- I don't know." Ilia's skin is changing rapidly. "Let's just get this over with."

Ruby stays by Weiss as long as she can. "We'll be right here." she whispers gently. "And these guys know what they're doing. They're professionals. You'll be all right. We'll all be all right."

Weiss's stomach is churning. She doesn't like being touched, but she HATES how she reverts back to old habits the moment something bad starts to happen.

The masseuses enter. The one who will be working with Ruby introduces herself, and Ruby does the same before asking, "Could we hold off a minute? I wanna make sure Weiss gets settled in okay."

"You don't have to." Weiss mumbles.

"Do too. We're partners."

Weiss smiles shakily. She allows Ruby and her own masseuse to help her lie down on the table. She stiffens when the hands touch her shoulders and Ruby lets her squeeze her hand until the nervousness subsides.

Weiss is almost asleep again within minutes. She's even smiling.

Blake is purring.

Yang is being more vocal than Ruby can remember her being for a very long time.

Nora is giggling quietly.

Ilia is blushing.

And things will be all right.

**Author's Note:**

> So remember when I said it's not connected to the Brightverse? That's not entirely true. You'll see how in future chapters of that.  
> I'm sorry for not being able to update it more. The past few months have been difficult brain-wise, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that.  
> Demon Days by Gorillaz off the album of the same name is, as the kids say, a Mood.


End file.
